Lok Sabha Election 2024, Phase 1: Voting on 102 seats underway
In the first phase of Lok Sabha elections 2024, as many as 102 constituencies spanning across 21 states and Union Territories will elect their new MPs.
Facing allegations of corruption in sand mining auctions and money laundering, Punjab minister Rana Gurjit Singh has submitted his resignation to the state’s Congress government.
However, the resignation submitted on 4 January has not been accepted by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who made this disclosure while talking to media persons during an event on Tuesday. I have not accepted the resignation of Rana Gurjit. I have received the letter around 12 days ago. We will think over the matter before the final decision,” the CM said.
Punjab Congress sources said the CM is likely to meet Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday to discuss the resignation and the expansion of his cabinet.
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Rana Gurjit Singh, a cabinet minister who holds the charge of Irrigation and Power, had landed in a controversy in May 2017 after his Nepalese cook Amit Bahadur won a sand mine bid worth Rs 26.51 crore at Saidpur Khurd village in Nawanshahar.
Some mine contracts were also bagged by one of his close associates, JS Randhawa.
It was alleged that the two were just fronts for the minister and his companies, and the sand mining contracts were bagged through unfair means.
Political opponents like Aam Aadmi Party and Shiromani Akali Dal were seeking his resignation following the serious allegations.
AAP leader and Punjab’s Leader of Opposition Sukhpal Singh Khaira on Tuesday said Rana’s resignation was long overdue.
The minister and his son were recently also issued summons by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) following allegations of money laundering abroad.
Rana Gurjit Singh has confirmed that he had put forward his resignation and now it was the CM who had to decide on the next step.
The minister said he had resigned earlier also when his name was dragged into the sand mine auction controversy. Earlier, he had denied the charges, saying neither he nor his company Rana Sugars Limited has any direct or indirect stakes in the sand mining business.
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